There’s this belief that all aspects of life must fall in balance
with one another. When one part is out of balance, then so is
another. It becomes a delightful game of Jenga in a sense. So when
the UFC ramped up its efforts to go from super promotion to uber
promotion, you’d figure smaller promotions would suffer as a
result. The UFC needed more talent and quicker than ever before. So
what’s the “little guy” to do?

“I believe fighters are starting to realize that we are setting
ourselves apart from the other regional promotions in the area,”
Cage Fury Fighting Championships general manager and matchmaker
Arias Garcia told Sherdog.com in a recent interview.

How do you set yourselves apart in an environment where the UFC has
more than 400 fighters under contract? To get a call to the big
show now may require nothing more than a loud personality [see
Browning, Junie]. Yet just in 2014 alone CFFC has seen three
fighters – Aljamain
Sterling, Charlie
Brenneman and George
Sullivan -- get the call from the UFC. It’s a feat that hasn’t
gone unnoticed.

“You’re being noticed -- not just in Bellator or regional
promotions -- but in national promotions, the UFC,” CFFC
featherweight champion Scott
Heckman said. “That’s great for this promotion. It’s only going
to make this promotion grow. Tougher talent and more competition
for CFFC [will come in], and I think that’s good and positive.”

“Right now until the UFC calls, my home is the CFFC. They’re
bringing in the best talent and they’re bringing in the top
prospects,” he said. “If the CFFC doesn’t have them they’re looking
to bring them in. In one month they have three guys get picked up
by the UFC. In the last six months there have been five or six
guys. This is definitely a breeding ground for the UFC.”

Since its reboot back in 2011 with CFFC 6, the organization has
expanded from shows in New Jersey to include Virginia, Delaware and
Pennsylvania. Its last show, CFFC
33 , was the first time it went into Philadelphia, a foray
which Garcia called “a huge success.” Signing fighters to exclusive
multi-fight deals with an out only if the UFC comes calling has
allowed them to build a base of strong local fighters. Once in the
fold, fighters have all come away marveling at their time with a
promotion that understands its standing in MMA.

“You don’t want to be treated like garbage; you want to be treated
with respect. You’re a professional and want to be treated like
one. I’ve had six fights here and have never had an issue,”
Santella said.

“They’ve been nothing but generous to me, finding me tough
opponents that they know can move up my career,” said new CFFC
lightweight champ Paul Felder.
“They take care of you everywhere you go. The organization brings
in crowds like these. They’re always branching out moving to other
cities. They’re very good about trying to move guys up to the big
show and to the big paydays.”

“My dreams are UFC,” Heckman said. “I’m not doubting CFFC --
they’re a great promotion. But they know this is a steppingstone
for a bigger and better promotion, and there’s no other place I’d
rather be before the UFC than CFFC.”

Flyweight standout Travis Wynn
- a man who is nicknamed “The Total Package” and comes out to
professional wrestler Ric Flair’s theme music - also appreciates
the production value by the CFFC.

“CFFC has been great for me because as an amateur I fought on a lot
of small dungeon shows with not a lot of production value. I made
my debut here [in February 2012] and have seen the company grow a
lot,” he said.”When you’re out there you see the lights, the
production value, doing interviews and having media time. It’s
preparing me for the bigger stage. It’s preparing me to deal with
nerves. When I get out there now I have no nerves. You have a
couple of thousand people screaming out there, starting chants and
it doesn’t affect me whatsoever because I’ve been in these big
fight situations and I’m very comfortable. CFFC helps me grow every
fight.”

It’s that treatment of their fighters and how the CFFC runs its
business which finally brought CFFC president and AMA Fight Club
figurehead Mike
Constantino to the promotion’s business as well.

“I always had a desire to promote shows. I promoted one show back
in 2012, and I wanted to move forward with it. The situation just
wasn’t right at the time,” Constantino said. “I feel that as a
manager and a trainer, I know all facets of the game. I’ve been
with the UFC for over six years. I see how professional they are
and how they run things, and I wanted to provide a platform for
fighters regionally to be able to have that same type of experience
and professionalism.”

Despite the ever-expanding UFC, Garcia looks at the promotion less
as a threat to the business and more as an asset. With about 12-15
event on the docket in 2014, the increased notoriety only serves to
aid what CFFC is going to do.

“It’s an honor that the UFC looks at us a proving ground type of
promotion,” Garcia said. “Our agenda is to sign local good guys for
exclusive deals for as many fights as we can. If they get picked by
the UFC then more power to them. No matter what we always have
another guy waiting in the wings.”